This invention relates to a bale handling apparatus, and in particular to a round bale retriever and dispense.
There is a large volume of patent literature relating to bale retrieving, conveying, shredding and dispensing apparatuses. In this connection, reference is made to Canadian Patents Nos. 736,936, issued to Sperry Rand Corporation on June 21, 1966; 901,436, issued to M. Newhouse on May 30, 1972; 1,038,338, issued to J. W. Ostrander on Sept. 12, 1978; 1,039,222, issued to Hi-Speed Checkweigher Co., Inc. on Sept. 2, 1978; 1,063,559, issued to DewEze Mfg., Inc. on Oct. 2, 1979; 1,063,979, issued to G. McCullough on Oct. 9, 1979; 1,065,809, issued to R. A. Cos on Nov. 6, 1979 and 1,108,095, issued to Four Star, Inc. on Sept. 1, 1981, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,053,071, issued to Hesston Corporation on Oct. 11, 1977; 4,083,501, issued to Blair Manufacturing Company Apr. 11, 1978; 4,090,624, issued to V. R. Krein et al on May 23, 1978; 4,094,427 and 4,094,428 both issued to Hesston Corporation on June 13, 1978; 4,148,399, issued to J. L. Carter et al on Apr. 10, 1979; 4,266,899, issued to W. B. Skeem on May 12, 1981; 4,298,301, issued to J. L. Carter et al on Nov. 3, 1981; 4,306,825, issued to S. Yilit on Dec. 22, 1981; 4,325,666, issued to F. O. Chain et al on Apr. 12, 1982; 4,360,167, issued to F. Beccalori et al on Nov. 23, 1982; 4,364,701, issued to B. R. Lynch et al on Dec. 21, 1982 and 4,376,607, issued to D. W. Gibson on Mar. 15, 1983.
It will be noted that the patents listed above describe a variety of devices for performing one or more functions, namely the retrieving, conveying, shredding and/or dispensing of hay bales. However, none of the patents describes a single apparatus for effectively carrying out several common operations such as retrieving or picking up a hay bale, transporting the bale to another location, and shredding and discharging the bale for animal feed.
Accordingly, in spite of the large volume of art in the field, there still exists a need for a simple, efficient apparatus for retrieving and dispensing round hay bales. More specifically, there exists a need for such an apparatus which can readily be mounted on new or existing farm vehicles. The object of the present invention is to meet such need.